JB Hi-Fi currently have the just-released Sony STR-DN1060 home theatre receiver at $948.
This receiver is the follow up to the Sony STR-DN1050, which won numerous awards and got rave reviews in 2014 and despite being from a 'big' company like Sony is arguably superior to more recognised audiophile brands like Denon. The 1060 has literally just come out and is a very careful evolution of the 1050 - although it's so new there are no reviews around just yet.
I did a lot of research and settled on this receiver - if you are looking for a mid-range receiver for both music and movies/gaming/tv, this is arguably the best option in the $1000-2000 bracket. I like a good blu ray, but vinyl is my passion and this thing sounds amazing paired up with some reasonable speakers.
Amongst the significant features:
- Great stereo reproduction, including modes designed for pure reproduction of analogue (vinyl etc)
- Equally great surround sound, including support for all relevant current formats (no Dolby Atmos, but no-one cares about that) and some surprisingly good sound field options (to make it sound like you're at the movies, if that's your bag)
- Ridiculous connectivity, including HDMI, optical, analogue, wifi, wired LAN, bluetooth
- 4k HDMI switching with ARC (allows audio to come back to the amp from your TV using an HDMI out cable) and a reasonably good HDMI-CEC implementation (allows devices to control each other)
- Actual comprehensible OSD, which is a rarity
- Calibration microphone
This price at JB is way better than anything else I've seen since this amp came out. In fact it's only $100 more than the significantly cheaper STR-DN860 (which is also on sale, but not as much of a bargain).
Hi caitsith01, can I borrow your research and ask this question. Which is the cheapest 7.2 receiver that has front channels pre-amp out and decent sound quality?